Diane Pope

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Pope Street Bridge

Watercolor, 24″ x 18″, plus included frame

Pope Street Bridge

The Pope Valley Road was the original name of Pope Street. A wooden bridge crossed the Napa River at first, which was destroyed and carried away in flood in the 1890s. As the gateway through which the people of Howell Mountain, Pope, Chiles and Conn valleys must pass, people realized the necessity of a new bridge. The project was a collaboration between the St. Helena city council and the Board of Supervisors. Convinced to build of stone by R.H. Pithie, St. Helena contractor and one of the most reliable and efficient stone masons in the state, the project was completed in 1894. Pithie was awarded the contract, the cost being $17,500. The Pope Street Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Bell Tower, Spring Valley School House

Watercolor, 18″ x 22″, plus included frame

Spring Valley Schoolhouse

This is the Spring Valley School on Silverado Trail at Taplin Road. The land was donated by Louise B. (Hunt) Taplin. The school operated from 1894 to 1930.

It was converted to a private residence by Mr. Pat Connolly in 1950.

The artist took artistic license and colored the school red in the painting, which it never was in reality.

Diane Pope

Living in the Napa Valley and owning a home at Lake Almanor has provided me with a tremendous amount of inspiration for my art. I am inspired by nature and I try to capture my love of wildlife in my paintings.

I find painting with watercolors very exciting. Sometimes you don’t know exactly what will happen even with careful planning. One of my favorite techniques is to paint a loose background creating an almost “out of focus” look and then paint the subject (often a bird) with a lot of detail.

Thanks to my wonderful and supportive husband I have a new studio in my backyard. (No longer painting in my daughter’s old bedroom) It has a huge window that lets in a lot of natural light and provides a wonderful view of flowers, plants and birds in our yard.

Over the years as I developed my skills as an artist I have learned that there are many aspects of painting that bring me joy: the peacefulness of quietly painting in my studio, meeting and learning from the limitless number of artists willing to share their insight, passing on my own knowledge to those who are curious about how I work, and making many friends along the way.

Being a part of various galleries, the Jessel Gallery, Art Gallery Napa Valley and Blue Goose Gallery, surrounded by so many wonderful artists, has encouraged me to challenge myself to become a better artist and to try new things. The feeling I get when I walk in to these galleries is pure joy.